Resolutions one month on

2014 a new year a new you, January has been and gone, how are those resolutions looking one month later? Are you sticking to your word and starting to see the gains, or are you feeling the strain and starting to slip? In this blog we will look at some resolutions made at Breadsall Priory and simple ways to keep to those resolutions.

Now some resolutions made by members were pretty simple, increase their training by one day, some enjoy classes and looked to try two new classes and stick to them, this is fantastic thinking, find something you enjoy, if your training is fun and you enjoy it you are much more likely to stick to it and look forward to it. It has to challenge you to change you, but it has to please you for you to come back for more. 2014 has seen an increase in classes giving more variation to an already great class time table, there is Legs, bums and tums (LBT), total body burn (TBB), early morning HIIT (high intensity interval training), with more new classes to come including METAFIT and our Technique clinics.  Another good method is to find likeminded members who enjoy their training, we are seeing great fitness groups forming, all which are very welcoming, we have strong groups for Pump Fx and Kettlercise, a rough tough bunch of Bootcampers and highly functional trainers in our circuits and TBB classes. Stick to those resolutions by joining a group.

Another method to stick to the resolutions is to take part in gym challenges. We have a year long 550 kettle bell challenge! A six week super hero team challenge which has 100 members taking part in the first week alone! Then later in the year we will see our first ever online challenge that you can do anywhere and post your achievements on our ever growing Facebook page!

Finally a great way to stick to and celebrate those resolutions is to treat yourself! Every month that goes by treat yourself to something you enjoy, new clothes, cinema trips, gigs or games. If you have that reward and incentive at the end you will be much more likely to keep with it.

So how is your new year going and what resolutions are you sticking to? We’d love to know.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Breadsall-Priory-Leisure-Club-a-Marriott-Hotel-Country-Club/126910624084898?ref=hl

Attitudes Towards Training

The world of fitness is varied and there are good points, bad points and plain confusing points. This week I want to address attitudes towards training, recently I have heard some very confusing statements by people in regards to their training, such as, ‘how do I lose weight with the least effort?’ ‘I don’t want to train like that because I will get really sweaty’ ‘I don’t do those lifts they are too difficult’ ‘I am not very good at that so i never train it’ and so on…

A large percentage of people who go to the gym will do the same thing day in and day out, the same thing for months and years, with little motivation, little energy, no thought to adding new elements, people today seem to do what they think they know and little else, hardly pushing themselves, never working up a sweat, no increase in weight, intensity, pace or recovery, just same old different day.

Firstly the simplest way I can put it is ‘if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you!’ training should challenge your abilities, you should work, sweat, push hard, dig deep and have to power your way through. Recently I did circuit based training on my weaknesses, I chose for things I am not great on and put them into a chain focusing on my technique, strength and endurance.  You won’t lose weight sticking to the same pace, you won’t get fitter doing the same few exercises with huge amounts of rest, you won’t get bigger lifting the same weight for the same reps, you will simply plateau.

There are so many types of training, so many variations and so much to master, there are a multitude of lifts, fitness and endurance training methods, lifting techniques, skill and agility building, flexibility and all round conditioning methods, so try them, bring back some excitement to your training and if you’re not sure where to start then find a trainer, we have a personal training team here at Breadsall Priory, we all have various backgrounds and experiences with fitness and our individual training methods vary and complement one another, we offer one to one training, group classes, inductions, personal programs and not to mention we are always happy to answer your health and fitness questions, our training team also work on the reception so don’t be scared to have a quick chat about your training or what new training we are doing, fitness is our career, our passion and we love the opportunity to talk about fitness and jump at the opportunity to train. So let’s reignite some passion and bring back that get up and go, in short, let’s get back in the gym and let’s smash it!

My Weakness Workout

30 wall balls
20 double unders
10 pull ups
5 muscle ups

For 5 rounds.



Karl O'Sullivan

Gym Myths by Karl O'Sullivan

We’ve all heard gym myths, those little pearls of wisdom passed down from one big guy at the gym to another not so big guy, such as you have to separate muscle groups to get big, cardio is for losing weight lifting is for building, you need fat to turn into muscle and so on, gym myths can be hilarious, my current favourite is ‘as you get older your fitness drops and you gain weight’ this theory that as you get older you get fat and that’s just the way it is, is a complete myth and absurdity. Let’s look at it objectively, all people, that is humans are animals, we may have 3D televisions and cool phone apps but we are still animals and part of the animal kingdom, now keeping that in mind what other animal on the whole planet gets fatter as it gets older? What creature has the genetics which say as you get older you are going to be fat? …that’s right, not a one, there is no animal or any unavoidable reason that’s says you will get fat and overweight just because you get older. It is true as you get older your metabolic rate will drop and your level of cardiovascular fitness will see a decrease, but a few tweaks in life style and diet will tackle the metabolic rate issue and cardiovascular fitness peaks around your early forties and then doesn’t see a significant drop until you are well in your seventies! Now that is an amazing thing, the human body is meant to stay active and healthy as we get older and with modern science and health care we can all look forward to longer, healthier and more active lives. The few things to remember are as you get older and wiser you need to train smarter not necessarily harder, when you’re young you can lift big and push yourself to high intensities, put as you get older you need to allow more time for your active recovery and maintenance, being sure to take time to maintain flexibility, good posture and overall function. Also except that you can’t burn the candle at both ends and eat lots of junk food and stay slim, the metabolic rate as you get older can’t handle that kind of life style, so its making the smart choices, eating more natural and clean, cutting back on unnecessary indulgences, that’s not to say you can’t treat yourself to a glass of wine and a dessert, but maybe don’t get trapped in the student mind set of several bottles and then an all you can eat at the local take away. I truly believe the time invested in your health and fitness will ensure a much greater and longer lasting happiness.

What is Tabata Training?

So many people ask, how can I get in shape quick? Or how can I drop weight quick? It seems the quicker the better in many cases and there is a one word answer, Tabata!
so next question, what is tabata training? It was researched and developed by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his colleagues at the National Institute of Health and Nutrition. The training developed was based around very high energy and intense burst of activity with short recovery and then repeating, such as interval training, except the key with tabata training is you choose a training method which rope in as many muscles as you can and requires maximum effort, then you give it all you’ve for the twenty seconds, it has to be relentless and without pause. The training works well with such things as sprints, rowing, swimming  or heavy punch bag work, you can even expand to compound lifts such as heavy bag work, where you not only lift with speed and power, you also slam the heavy bag back down to earth and repeat.
through tabata training it was found that athletes tested has an increased' VO2 max (the point at which they get winded)  14% in six weeks. According to the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 6 to 8 very hard 20 second intervals with 10 second rest periods may be one of the best possible training protocols.

Your resting metabolism is higher in the few hours immediately after exercise as your body adapts to the stresses of the workout. Tabata routines burn more calories than a longer, easier, session. As your resting metabolism burns predominantly fat, this means you get fitter and leaner with less training, that’s good news to many!

The basics of Tabata training is 20 seconds flat out, 10 seconds easy and repeat.

The routine

Warm up Ten minutes easy shadow boxing or jogging on the spot.

Work period  squat down until your thighs are level with the floor, then explode upwards, leaping as high as you can then land controlled and lightly. Repeat for 20 seconds.

Recovery period jog for 10 seconds.

Repeat eight times this method isn’t for the faint of heart, but its simple in principle and yields great results, so if time is of the essence and you want those gains fast then follow the wisdom of  Dr. Izumi Tabata.

Good luck.


Karl O’Sullivan